War of the Dragons
by ScarletFoxx
Summary: It was 14 years ago that Igneel and the others left without a word, not a trace of their existence left behind. That's all about to change as the dragon slayers left behind are threatened by anti-human dragons once more and the two sides stand on the brink of war that will decide if dragons and humans will ever live together in harmony.
1. Something's Up

_**Hello everyone! I'm ScarletFoxx and this is my first Fairy Tail fanfic! This takes place right after the Grand Magic Games (I'm not caught up on the manga, only the anime so I don't know all the details past the where the anime is). I hope you all enjoy!**_

_**Disclaimer~ Fairy Tail and its characters do not belong to me and never will (Unless I find a genie or something)**_

_**Chapter 1~ Something's Up**_

_**Regular POV**_

"Take it back you stupid stripper!" A pink haired boy shouts, jumping over a wooden table to catch the raven haired mage that sat across him by the collar.

"Make me Flame Brain!" The ice mage replies, punching Natsu in the face and sending him flying back.

"I'll get you for that droopy eyes!" Natsu shouts, peeling himself from the table that his body had smashed when it was thrown, platters of food sent flying into the air.

"Bring it squinty eyes!" Gray replies, throwing his clothes to the side out of habit. The two clash and soon enough the entire guild is involved, tearing up the guild hall.

"Just like old times." Mira says from behind the counter, a small smile on her face as she neatly ducks out of the way of an incoming Elfman who slams into the wall behind her, muttering something about real men before passing out.

"They act as if The Grand Magic Games and the Tenrou incident never happened. They'll never change." Erza replies, calmly eating her strawberry cake without looking at the combatants that tussled in the guild hall. That is until Gray is sent flying into her, knocking her head down face first into the cake before her. He quickly picks himself up and dashes back into the fray, mindless of the demon he just activated. Erza sits up slowly and runs a finger down her face in shock, licking the frosting at the tip. "You dare make me ruin my cake?!" She shouts, jumping into the battle herself, cake bits still coating her face. Mira laughs to herself.

"Looks like you haven't changed either Erza." She muses aloud with a laugh to herself. Suddenly the guild doors slam open a Gajeel stands there, a nervous looking Wendy behind him, both of their Exceeds standing behind them.

"Salamander!" He shouts, agitation clear in his voice. Natsu's sensitive eats pick up his calls right away and he quickly throws Max into a wall before turning to face the Iron Dragon Slayer.

"What you want some to Iron Breath?!" Natsu shouts, jumping up onto a table to be heard before a flying Jet slams into him, knocking them both back into the mayhem of the fight.

"I don't have time for this idiot right now." Gajeel mutters under his breath, storming into the mini battle and grabbing Natsu's arm, whispering something in his ear forcefully. Natsu's face immediately pales and he nods, the two dragon slayers forcing themselves free from the fight, Happy soaring down from above to join them as he sees his partner heading out.

"Hey where are you going Pyro? Did that battle get too rough for ya?!" Gray shouts as a challenge, drawing attention to the escaping fire mage.

"Shut it Ice Princess something came up! I'll be sure to beat you up later alright?" Natsu shouts over his shoulder. Gray looks at him with a wisp of concern, Natsu never having left a brawl like this before, but is soon swept back into the fight as Elfman recovers and attacks him. Gajeel and Natsu join Wendy at the entrance and with quick nods exchanged between the three. Long after the three dragon slayers and Exceeds had left the fight had finally come to an end, Erza standing triumphantly above a cowering Gray, the other members left moaning around her.

"That'll teach you to mess with my cake!" She declares angrily, easily lifting him up with one arm, remnants of cake still smeared across her face, and throwing him towards the door, naturally right as it opens. Gray hits an unprepared Lucy head on, knocking her backwards with him on top of her.

"Agghhhh Gray!" She shouts, pushing him off of her and dusting herself off, blind to Juvia's jealous stare from behind one of the shattered tabletops. "Uh Erza why is their frosting all over your face?" The red head mage's hand slowly goes to her face, eyes widening in horror as she realized she never cleaned it, and she rushes off to do so as Lucy looks around. "Another fight?" She questions looking at the wrecked guild hall and shaking her head. "Odd…. Natsu isn't even here?" She wonders aloud, expecting to see her fiery partner in the middle of it as always. Gray pushes himself up from the ground.

"Nope Flame Head left in the middle of the fight." The ice mage says, standing up and dusting himself off.

"That doesn't sound like him…" Lucy murmurs, concern entering her voice. "And I was just about to ask if he wanted to go on a quick job so I could pay my rent…" Lucy pouts, crossing her arms. Gray shrugs, reclaiming his clothes from a timid Juvia who appeared as if she was trying to inhale them, entirely unnoticed by the owner of course.

"I'm sure he'll be back here in the morning Lucy, it can wait one more day right?" Erza asks, her face freshly cleaned as the rest of the guild began to clean up the mess before Makarov yelled at them all for the huge mess they created. Lucy nods, still looking disappointed. "Wonderful! In the morning Natsu, Happy, and Gray can accompany us on a big mission with a large reward!" Erza declares.

"Hey why do I have to go on a mission with the Pyro?" Gray asks, silencing when Erza glares at him. "Er I mean I can't wait!" He stammers, stepping back from the rage filled S class mage. Lucy shakes her head with a small smile.

"So much for a quick job that would get me just enough for my rent." She mutters quietly to herself. "Well anyway I better head home to get packed for tomorrow." The Celestial mage says, quickly making her exit as the Guild Master discovers the mess and begins to scold the guild for already destroying the guildhall they just got back. She quickly heads home and begins to pack, curious on what could have possibly dragged her dragon slayer friend from a brawl, the question staying on her mind until she fell asleep.

**_And there is the first chapter! I hope you all enjoyed and please give me a wonderful review if you did! Any and all feedback is appreciated and will encourage me to get the next chapter out sooner and better than the one before! Thanks for reading!_**

**_~Foxx_**


	2. Return of the Dragons

_**Special thanks to Mayuko-chan and Syren Novade for reviewing as well as whitephenix for the follow. Hope you all enjoy the update :)**_

_**Disclaimer~ Refer to Chapter 1**_

_**Chapter 2~ Return of the Dragons **_

_**Regular POV**_

"Are you serious?! You really think they've returned after all this time?!" Natsu exclaims wildly, entire body shaking from excitement.

"Don't go crazy lizard breath I'm just telling you what I heard on my last mission, apparently someone saw some dragons flying over them, I got a feeling this might be something big." Gajeel responds, the three dragon slayers and their Exceeds talking together in the woods.

"Still it would be really cool to see Grandeeney again!" Wendy exclaims, happiness in her eyes despite Gajeel's warning.

"Well I for one think it's too dangerous to go searching for them based on what was likely a drunk's hallucination!" Carla declares, adding her own opinion.

"As much as I hate to agree with the cat lady I think she's right, we should put off searching for them until we know more." Gajeel agrees. Natsu jumps to his feet in outrage.

"Are you kidding? I might finally be able to see Igneel again and your telling me I should sit back and wait? Are you crazy?!" The fire mage shouts in rage. "Don't you want to see Metalicana again?!"

"Course I do!" Gajeel yells in reply, jumping up to Natsu's challenge. "I just got a bad feeling about it, something fishy is going on."

"Mmmmm fish" Happy moans despite the tension, Lily ignores the blue Exceed standing beside his partner.

"Gajeel is right it could be some kind of trap, it's best to wait a little longer for more information." The scared cat replies. Natsu huffs and crosses his arms but sits back down.

"I don't like it." He laments angrily, shouting like a child. Wendy gently places a small hand on his knee.

"Don't worry Natsu-san if Igneel and Grandeeney are really back we'll be able to find them for sure when we know it's not a trap!" She says brightly, enticing a small smile from the fire mage.

"Yeah I guess you're right Wendy, man I can't wait to see Igneel again!" Natus says, his eyes shining.

"Let's be sure to tell each other if we hear anything else about the dragons before we go rushing into trouble." Gajeel says sending a pointed look at Natsu who completely misses it.

"Sounds good!" Natsu replies standing up, the others doing the same. "I'll see you guys tomorrow at the guild!" He calls before him and Happy take off, heading home for the night.

_**Natsu's POV**_

I felt buzzed as I dashed home, completely energized by the news Gajeel had brought. I couldn't wait for tomorrow, everyday was one day closer until I found Igneel again. Happy and I reach our small house and I quickly cook soon meat with my fists, tossing Happy his fish. Right now I wanted nothing more then to run until I found him right now but deep down I knew Gajeel and Lily were right, it could very easily be a trap. After dinner Happy and I headed straight to bed, my small friend nearly as excited as I was about finding Igneel having assisted me in my searches for so long. Soon enough Happy is curled up and snoring by my head but I toss and turn for what seemed like hours, sleep evading me until the darkness finally overtakes me.

I open my eyes slowly, my body floating in a dark void alerting me I was dreaming. I look around the dark void, my white scarf wrapped tightly around my neck even in my dream. A deep rumble sounds behind me and I turn, fists aflame to face it. I'm met with the scaly face of...

"Igneel!" I exclaim, letting the fire die down, a smile stretching across my face despite it only bring a dream.

"Quiet Natsu time is short, it's straining Grandeeney to allow me to speak with you." Igneel replies.

"Wait so it's really you?!" I exclaim in shock and excitement. "Where have you been?!"

"Questions later for now get on." He says turning to the side. My dream self scrambles onto his scaly back and with a flap of his mighty wings we are in the air.

"Igneel what...?"

"There is a war coming." My foster father says, cutting me off. He glide to the left, below us horrible scenes of dragons and people alike being massacred. "Worse than the last dragon war."

"What do you mean? We have to stop it!" I shout looking at horror at the bloody battlefield below us. Igneel shakes his great head.

"It's too late for that, we already tried to no avail" he continues with sorrow in his voice. "That was why I left you 14 years ago, why we all did. We wanted our children to be safe." Below the images turn to dragons and young children, all looking as happy as I remember being with Igneel, I even spot Wendy and Gajeel smiling and what looked like Sting and Rouge as well along with many other unfamiliar faces. "But they were not." Igneel says, voice darkening. The scenes below change, dragons leaving the children crying. "Our enemies have begun to hunt down our children, whipping them from existence without alerting the guilds and calling for another war, that wretched black dragon at the head."

"Black dragon? You mean Acnologia?" I exclaim remembering the terrifying beast. Igneel nods solemnly.

"Yes he's already attempted on you and your friends lives once and if not for Fairy Tail's great spell you would be dead" He replies, a pure anger in his voice, the scenes again changing to show some of the same kids from earlier, older now, being hunted down and killed. "We will have no more and decided to wage war against the dark dragon to protect our children but we are vastly outnumbered and must call upon you all to aid us in the fight as your kind did in the past." I blink in shock, Igneel wanted me to fight beside him? We begin to descend, his large claws hitting earth. "I understand if you wish to stay with your friends instead of fight, we will not force anything upon you, not like last time when we left you alone. The decision is yours Natsu but know this, if you decide to fight you can tell no one, only dragons layer magic will be a match for my kind and we don't want innocents to die." I slid off his back and walk so I can face my father face to face, nodding.

"I will fight beside you, I'm not going to lose you again!" I declare. A toothy smile stretches across his face.

"That's my son! We will await you and your dragonslayer friends at our clearing, they have already accepted as well and will meet you outside your house. I will see you soon my son." Igneel says. I grin back and then he disappears in a puff of smoke and I lurch up now awake. Happy continues to snore by the pillow as I pull myself from my bed, already dressed since I never changed the night before. I quickly gather some supplies, not knowing how long I was going to be away and write a quick note to Happy telling him not to worry but nothing more. With one last look to my sleeping friend who was beginning to mewl in his sleep, arms reaching out to where I usually lay.

"Stay safe little buddy, I'll be back in no time." I whisper before turning away and exiting my house for what could be the last time. My eyes slowly adjust to the pre-dawn light, the scents of Wendy and Gajeel reaching my sensitive nose. The other two dragon slayers soon emerge separately from the shadows, their eyes looking haunted just like I'm sure my own did. They nod to my unspoken question, they had received a similar message in their dreams proving it to be the truth, there was no other explanation why we would know to meet here. They both turn to me for direction and I remember Igneel's instruction to lead them to our clearing. I turn and, with a quick gesture for them to follow, slip into the trees soundlessly feet sure on the path to the clearing, the memory burned into my head. I begin to pick up speed as we get closer, nervous excitement filling me at the thought of seeing Igneel again.

"Slow down lizard breath! Shorty here can't keep up!" Gajeel hisses from behind me, shattering the silence in the air but he is ignored as I break free of the brush. I skid to a stop, breath coming on quick pants, and I look around the clearing of my earliest memories as the sun's light begins to peek over the horizon, chasing away a little of night's dark hold. I stare up in the sky, eyes widening as I spot an unmistakable shape cutting through the air.

"Igneel?!" I exclaim, staring up towards the reddish speck in the sky, Wendy and Gajeel, both panting, staring up at it beside me as they finally caught up. The dragon swoops closer, the shape getting bigger and bigger but suddenly a feeling of unease fills me. My eyes widen once more as I realize the approaching dragon wasn't my foster father and suddenly a pillar of black flame approaches us.

_**Early warning, I love writing cliffhangers! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and please send me any and all feedback in a review!**_

_**~Foxx**_


	3. Unanswered Questions

_**Hello to all my lovely readers! Foxx here with an update but first thanks to Mayuko-chan and Miry-0-chan for the reviews and Heartfilia Lucy-Celestial Hime, treeofsakuras, and Darkrexbeta for the follows and favorites!  
**_

_**Disclaimer~ refer to Chapter 1**_

_**Chapter 3- Unanswered Questions**_

_**Natsu's POV**_

"Move it!" I shout, pushing my friends out of the way from the flames and bracing myself for the hit, knowing they couldn't burn me. The force of the flames manages to knock me back and to my surprise sweat peppers my skin from the heat, my body reacting to the scalding flames though they still failed to burn me.

"Natsu-san!" Wendy shouts in concern and I hear the wing flapping getting closer as the dark flames begin to die out.

"Oh the puny dragon slayer managed to survive, you must be Igneel's spawn." The dragon, a darker red than Igneel with black markings, growls lowly, the black flames licking at his muzzle. "No matter even you will eventually burn in my flames." He let's loose another attack but this time I jump out of the way, the forest behind me engulfed in flame.

"Who the hell are you? Where's Igneel?!" I shout running from his attacks to keep him busy, both Gajeel and Wendy sneaking up behind snarls and shoots another pillar of flame at me and as I dodge that his foreleg darts out. Sharp claws rip into my side and suddenly I'm airborne, gravity kicking in as I crash into a tree. His immense shape looms over me as I try to regain my bearings, blood dripping from the fresh cuts in my side.

"I don't know where that pathetic excuse for a dragon is but my name is Amaterasu, the dragon of Black Flame!" He declares, tail lashing behind him and batting away Gajeel and Wendy as they tried to attack, sending both flying.

"Wendy! Gajeel!" I shout, urging them to get up as I tried to but Amaterasu pushes me down with a large foot, claws caging me in.

"You shouldn't worry about them puny human, they'll get their turn soon enough." He snarls, tail lashing. He presses down harder on my chest restricting my breathing. "But for now let's see how long it takes for a son of Igneel to burn." Flames swirl in his open mouth, anxious to be released, but before he can bright orange flames crash into his side. The impact causes him to stagger and I manage to worm out of his claws which then dig down into the dirt where I just was leaving deep gorges in the soil. Amaterasu roars, black flames jetting at the sky and I follow their path spotting a much more welcome sight.

"Igneel!" I shout in joy, grinning widely when I spot him. His oranges flames rush to meet the black ones, colliding in an impressive vortex or brilliant orange and jet black. A smirk finds its way onto my face. "Now I'm all fired up." I say, flames engulfing my fist. I charge forward while Amarestsu was distracted and jump up, aiming for his face. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" I shout before slamming it into the dragon's and knocking his flames off course. I quickly jump back as Igneel takes the opening, fire enveloping the other fire dragon. Amaterasu roars in pain, unfurling his giant wings and lifting from the ground.

"This isn't over Igneel! You have only prolonged their lives for weeks at most! We will kill you and your kin!" The Black Flame dragon roars before retreating into the sky. I fall to my knees the pain in my side only now really registering.

"Natsu-san!" Wendy cries, running over to me. "Are you hurt?" I wave her off.

"I'm fine Wendy, just a scratch." I assure her, looking up as Igneel began to descend, the sun breaking the horizon behind him. She doesn't looked convinced by my words, eyes still worried as they gaze at the three rips that betrayed the location of the wound. I shift slightly so the tips of my scarf shield it from her view, I could check it out later without Wendy using her magic on it, from what Igneel said we were going to need all the magic power we had. Gajeel walks over to join us, a guarded look in his eyes as he gazed at my adoptive father and I slowly raise to my feet, hand hovering over my injury as it twinges with pain. Igneel prepares to land, mere feet from the ground and with one final flap of his wings, ruffling my hair, he lands. I stare for a moment into his yellow eyes, unmoving as both Wendy and Gajeel shift in front of me, as if readying for a fight. The tension hangs in the air as I stare into the familiar eyes, a torrent of raging emotions racing through me until Igneel snorts, a small fire launched towards us. Gajeel and Wendy tense but I just smirk, jumping past them and eating the fire with a single bite, sending my own, larger one, back towards my adoptive father for him to snap up. "Thanks for the meal!" I shout, a toothy grin stretching across his scaly face as well and suddenly I'm running forward, latching onto the tip of his snout. "Damn it Igneel what the hell took you so long." I growl, trying to be angry, tears pricking my eyes. A rumble sounds from low in his throat.

"I will explain everything later Natsu when we are at a safer place, there are many friends I want you to and the other two to meet." I nod, pulling back and quickly whipping any moisture from my face. He gestures for me to board and with a smile I scale his scaly foreleg with ease, settling myself on warm scales well before the juncture of his wings.

"Come on we gotta go before someone comes looking for us!" I call to Wendy and Gajeel, looking at the rising sun in worry, everyone would be waking up soon. They clamber aboard awkwardly, not used to the heat and the rough reptilian scales that covered Igneel, their descriptions of Grandeeney and Metalicana portraying them as feathered and smooth armor plate scale covered. They finally join me as half the sun is in the sky, a spectacular sunrise for sure. I can't help but be reminded of when Lisanna and I were hatching Happy in our little hut, when she woke me up just to see the sunrise. Igneel flaps his mighty wings, lifting us above the treetops and my eyes instantly zone in on Magnolia. Wendy and Gajeel's do the same and my eyes focus in our proud guild hall, already dwarfed by the distance separating us from it. I already found myself missing those I left behind, Happy, Lucy, Erza, Gramps, Lisanna, Mira... even that idiot stripper Gray! Igneel angles his wings to turn, Magnolia fading quickly into the distance. When Magnolia completely fades away I finally turn my gaze forward, the sky lit up with the sun, a bright blue expanse dotted with puffy white clouds. My eyelids start to become heavy, reminding me of my lack of sleep due to Igneel's dream and a small mission with just Happy before that. I lean forward, my side throbbing duly and before I know it the warmth and comfort of Igneel's back lulls me to sleep.

_**Lucy's POV**_

I hum to myself as I walk to the guild, excited for the upcoming job with my partner, even though it wasn't going to be as small as I originally planned. I hated to admit it but I had missed my dense partner, so used to seeing him every day whether while on a job, at the guild, or him randomly popping up at my apartment. When I near the guild I can the pandemonium happening inside and suddenly a orange colored blur races past me, Jet. I start running, bursting into the building. A flurry of activity meets me and I search out Erza and Gray spotting them in a large group with Master Makarov, Levy, and Mira, all surrounding the three Exceeds of our guild. I rush forward.

"Levy-chan what happened?" I ask, tapping her shoulder. She whirls around, his eyes wide and worry filled.

"Gajeel, Natsu, and Wendy are missing, according to Happy and the others they were talking yesterday about some news Gajeel heard about dragons but they decided to wait in case it was a trap." Levy says, her voice cracking with worry. "But when they woke up this morning Gajeel and the others were gone, only Natsu left a note but it didn't tell us anything, only not to worry." I nod, understanding her worry feeling the same.

"What are we going to do, for all we know they could be in danger?!" I exclaim. Levy shakes her head, looking towards the ground.

"Master sent Jet out first while Happy and the other Exceeds told him Erza and Mira the rest of what they knew again since the three were quite distraught when they first got here." As she finishes Master Macarov turns to face us, face grim.

"Everyone listen up!" The noise of the guild instantly dies, all eyes turning to face him. "We are going to search Magnolia and the surrounding forest for our missing members, report back if anything is found." He orders. "Warren will set up a telepathic link, everyone else split into groups. If you find anything report back to Warren through the link" I instantly head towards Erza and Gray, Levy at my heels, and the three Exceeds doing the same. Erza glances at us quickly.

"We will take the far forest!" She declares loudly and runs out of the guild, all of us at her heels while dodging between bodies. Since our group was easily the largest Erza chose the largest area and split us up into teams of two two and three to separate when we arrived the forest as we dashed through Magnolia, only wiping out a handful of people on the way (accidentally of course). We finally reach the forest, Erza and Gray going left, Levi and Lily taking left, Happy, Carla and I heading towards Natsu's and Happy's house.

_"Hello can everyone hear me?"_ Warren questions, a multitude of 'Ayes' sounding back. _"Good, report anything and everything back to us." _I find myself nodding confirmation before the link goes silent. We reach the small shack in the woods and Happy nudges open the door. It was a huge mess as always.

"Tom- cat! I can't believe you live in this filth!" Carla announces in disgust, tone lacking it's condescending tone. Happy mutters a 'sorry Carla, before shuffling into his home, head and ears pointed to the ground. Carla and I follow him, looking around the messy house. Aside from the clothes, cooking utensils, and other miscellaneous items scattered all over the place I didn't see anything of consequence.

"Happy where's the note Natsu left?" I question, hoping the fire mage had left some clue that Happy had missed. The blue cat shuffles over to the messy bed and grabs a small torn piece of paper, hobbling back to hand it to me.

"Here Lucy." He mumbles and I take the note, instantly dismayed at the small collection of hastily scrawled words that adorned the small sheet. I scan them quickly, learning nothing that the rest of the guild didn't already know and with a huff I jam the paper into my key pouch before joining Carla on the floor, sifting through mounds of junk for a clue. Our efforts are fruitless, not a single hint found and I feel myself beginning to lose hope. A sharp knock sounds at the door, jolting me from my search. I freeze, staring at the door in fear. If it was someone from the guild they wouldn't have had to knock, just contacted me through Warren. Oh no! It must be some pervert who saw a cute girl walk into a house in the middle all alone with just two cats, he must be here to kidnap me or something! I grab Loke's key from my key loop, this guy would get a nasty surprise if he thought I was some defenseless pretty girl, I'm a Fairy Tail wizard too! A glance at Happy and Carla, both who looked entirely unconcerned.

"Natsu? You here?" I relax, recognizing Lisanna's voice. "I have something I need to tell you!" I stand up, dusting myself off, and return Loke's key to my king before walking over to the door and opening it. Lisanna stares at me in surprise, blinking wide blue eyes. "Lucy? Why are you in Natsu's house? Is he here too?" She questions rapidly, a look of suspicion flashing across her face as she peers around me. I shake my head and her questions and gesture her to come inside so I could talk to her while searching. She follows slowly, looking unsurprised by the clutter in the house, looking at the two Exceeds in confusion. "Lucy where's Natsu? I have something really important to tell him!" I sigh and look away from her, kneeling beside a sniffling Happy, hugging him gently to try and comfort him.

"Natsu, Wendy, and Gajeel all went missing between last night and this morning without warning. According to Happy, Carla and Pantherlily they were talking about the dragons appearing last night but decided against acting on it until more information was presented." I say looking back at her to gauge her reaction since she had left on a short solo mission only a few days before. Her entire face turns pale white, fear in her eyes.

"They went missing after hearing about dragons?" She repeats in a soft voice, eyes wide in shock. I nod standing again and look at her in concern, unease filling me.

"Yeah the entire guild is out searching for hints on where they went, Happy, Carla, and I were searching here for clues on where they may have gone." Her blue eyes snap to be, looking frantic.

"I might have found something." She says breathlessly, suddenly latching on to my arm and pulling me forward and she dashes out of the door. Happy and Carla whirl to follow, wings snapping out allowing them to become airborne so they are able to follow.

"Lisanna slow down so we can find Erza or someone around here and bring them to!" I try to shout, nearly stumbling over a tree root but Lisanna pays no heed, hand still clamped around my wrist. I go for a different tactic. "_Warren!" _I shout mentally to get his attention to focus on me despite the other voices and minds he was having to focus on, linking himself to everyone but not everyone together to prevent too many distractions. "_Lisanna just got back and thinks she found something that relates to Natsu and the others. She's leading Happy, Carla, and I to it right now but she's in too much of a hurry to stop and find Erza or Gray right now." _I pause waiting for a response.

"_Alright Lucy I contacted Erza's and Levy's groups and they are on their way to back you up, where exactly are you heading?"_ Warren replies. I look around, nearly falling again as my gaze is moved from the ground.

"_We're heading deeper into the forest past Natsu's house but I don't know exactly where." _I pause a second. "Lisanna where exactly are we going?" I shout at her, managing to get her to glance back at me.

"A big clearing not to far from here, the people at the guild know it as Dragon's Clearing because Natsu claimed Igneel raised him here and slept here for almost a year after joining the guild!" Lisanna shouts back, increasing her pace even faster despite me already struggling to keep up.

"_Lisanna says it's some place called Dragon's clearing." _I tell Warren, cringing as a branch whacks me in the face. "Lisanna slow down a little!" I screech at the white haired girl, her pace hardly changing at my plea.

"_Got it Lucy, the others in your group are on their way. Report back if you find anything and be careful." _Warren says before going silent. I nod to no one in particular and turn my attention back to the forest floor, managing not to stumble the rest of the way to the clearing. Lisanna finally begins to slow as the trees start to thin out a little, ahead. I pull her to a stop panting, feeling uneasy.

"We should wait here until Erza and the others get here, I contacted Warren and they shouldn't be too far behind." Lisanna nods wordlessly,her brow creased in worry as she stared ahead. In no time the others arrive, an exhausted Happy and Carla in tow, and they look to Lisanna and I. We start forward again and I spot scorch marks on the trees as we get closer, singed leaves littering the ground. Gray runs his hand along one of the burn marks, mysteriously half naked.

"It definitely looks as if Flame Brain was here but who was he fighting?" He comments, rubbing the fresh on on his fingers, a tinge of concern in his voice. No one has an answer, Happy sniffling a bit more. Levy presses closer to me as we get nearer and I can practically taste her anxiety and worry in the air, all of us feeling the same. We finally break free of the trees and I feel my heart stop as I see the clearing. Large patches of earth were tore from the ground, deep claw like marks left in the soil. The tree tops were shredded and scorched like a giant flying beast had attacked them. Like a dragon. I glance around, everyone's mouths dropped wide open as they looked around except Lisanna who looked in near tears.

"I came through her on the way back and I thought these were signs Igneel was back so I rushed to tell Natsu… I didn't realize he was missing!" She sobs. Erza rests a hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay Lisanna, you had no way of knowing and whoever made these marks were gone by the time you got here so it wouldn't have made any difference." The Requip- mage soothes before turning to the rest of us. "Fan out and search for anything that puts Natsu, Gajeel, or Wendy here for sure before we jump to any conclusions. Then we can report back to Warren" She commands, taking charge instantly. We all do as instructed and I glance around the clearing to choose where to start. I don't even have time to move towards my chosen area, Happy's cry splitting the air. Gray is the first to his side, tensing as he spotted what the cat had seen. He turns to us, face grim.

"Guys Happy found blood and quite a bit of it..." He declares, kneeling beside the cat as we all rush over. Happy turns to face us, tears running down his face.

"G-uys" he sobs, nose twitching. "I-it's Na-Natsu's blood."

_**O.o wow over 3,000 words?! It sure didn't feel like that much when I was typing it! Anywho I hope you **_**_enjoyed my extra long update and please leave me your thoughts in a review!_**

**_~Foxx_**


	4. New Faces, New Decisions

_***Deep Breath* Hello everyone! Sorry for the lateness of this chapter but is was giving me issues. Also WARNING for here on out I will be adding OCs to the story HOWEVER I have stipulations on them. 1- OCs WILL NOT be having OC/Canon shipping, I honestly doubt I will include any shippings. 2- I will not (at least it is very unlikely) have any chapters from an OCs POV (however I am open to requests of branch offs in their POV if you guys would like them). 3- The OCs are not meant to be main characters of this fanfiction, they were created to fulfill a purpose not to be a focus (this is a War, says so in Title, so I needed more people/dragons to fight on the 'good' side and I didn't feel like all nameless ones would cover it). Anyway I really hope you'll all give this a chance! Now the shoutouts, thank yous to Not-A-Randomer, treeofsakuras, Mayuko-chan, and both Guests (NaWen is not planned btw, sorry) for their lovely reviews. Also thank yous to Mr. P0P0 and Not-A-Randomer for the follows!  
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_**Disclaimer~ Refer to Chapter 1**_

_**Chapter 4- New Faces, New Decisions **_

_**Lucy's POV**_

After Happy's revelation Erza contacted Warren while Lisanna dragged Happy away from the blood, hugging the cat tightly and crying herself. The rest of us searched for more clues that would put Wendy and Gajeel here, Carla and Lily finding traces of their scent but nothing like the blood Happy found. Disappointed by the lack anything useful we all turn to Erza again, looking for direction. Levy presses close to me again, looking in near tears after finding out Gajeel had been here to.

"Lu-chan they'll be okay right? I mean it looks like dragons were here and they wouldn't have hurt them right?" Levy whispers to me, her fingers capturing my arm in a vice grip.

"Of course they will, there dragonslayers! Natsu probably just challenged them it a fight a lost, in sure they're fine though." I assure her, my words sounding dry and tasteless to my own ears as the memory of Acnologia flashes in my mind. Levy however seems to buy it, relaxing her grip on me slightly.

"Everyone listen up!" Erza says, a hard set to her jaw. "Master has ordered us to return to the guild to discuss what might have have happened here, we shouldn't jump to conclusions."

"Ezra's right, Flame head and the others wouldn't go down easy no matter what the enemy." Gray agrees. There are murmurs of half- hearted agreement, Happy still sniffling in Lisanna's arms. We turn to head back to the guild and as we leave the clearing I turn my head back to glance at the marks.

"Natsu you and the others stay safe wherever you are, we'll find you soon"

_**Natsu's POV**_

"Natsu-San wake up! Wake up we're here!" I feel a nudge on my shoulder and I open my eyes with a huge yawn, looking around at puffy white clothes.

"Where am I... Igneel!" I exclaim, everything rushing back. He grunts from under me.

"Took you long enough Natsu, I thought you were going to sleep through introductions." He grumbles from under us.

"Oi Flame Brain he's right, the squirt was worried." Gajeel calls from behind. I send him a glare, a stab of pain hitting me from the turn, reminding me of my wound.

"Shut your trap Iron Breath!" I snap in return, earning a chuckle from Igneel. Gajeel opens his mouth to respond but Wendy's sound of surprise cuts him off as we break through the clouds. We both turn to see what she had. I forget how to breath for a moment. Dragons were everywhere. Igneel banks to the left, away from a large mountain peppered with caves, a huge clearing at its base among the tree, and begins to descend towards the clearing. The other dragons seem to follow his lead, all gliding over the clearing as well.

"It can't be... Grandeeney!" Wendy shouts as a whitish blue, feathered dragon dives down from above us, wings tucked tight. Like a rocket it approaches, about to surpass is when the wings unfold one more, turning steep dive into gentle drift.

"Hello Wendy." The dragon says softly, her voice like a whisper in the wind. Wendy's face splits with happiness.

"Grandeeney it really is you!" Wendy shouts as we touch down, leaping off Igneel's back before his feet completely hit the ground. She burrows herself into Grandeeney's next, the Sky Dragon turning her head to whisper to here.

"Oi where's old Metal Head?" Gajeel questions loudly looking around the gathered dragons. A shadow falls over us.

"Gee hee." A deep voice laughs. My head snaps up to see what had to be Metalicana. The sleek, iron plated dragon lands beside us, Gajeel and I jumping off Igneel's scaly back.

"Took you long enough to show up." Gajeel remarks, a smirk spreading across his face.

"Enough of the pleasantries!" A yellow dragon roars, stepping forward. "You can reunite later, we have more important things to cover."

"Pops is right! Let's get this show started!" A blonde girl yells, sliding off his back. Only now did I realize there we other humans here, enraptured by the dragons. A small purple dragon steps forward, a girl just behind her, the yellow backing down as the purple one takes the center.

"Thank you Raijin, Elysia." She says softly before turning to the rest of us. "Thank you for gathering everyone."

"Wait a moment Ayan! Lupa and a few of the others still haven't arrived!" An emerald dragon calls. The purple dragon, Ayan, dips her head.

"I know Akiha but the time to act is now, we need to prepare for an attack." Ayan replies. The green dragon dips her head. Ayan turns back to the rest of us. "As most of you know our bonds with humanity and most notably our children are being threatened." She declares, news met with a solemn silence. "Many of our kin and young have already been slain due to the others actions and it long past time to retaliate."

"It shouldn't have had to come this far, we never should have abandoned them in the first place!" A dark blue dragon growls, tail lashing the air. Ayan drops her head.

"I regret that choice now as well but at the time it seemed the safest way Nix, Atheno himself agreed." She says sadly, the girl standing behind her stepping forward and wordlessly placing a hand on her flank.

"That doesn't change the fact-" The blue dragon replies.

"Enough Nix!" Igneel snaps, stepping forward. "Ayan is not alone responsible for the death of Chilam, instead of pointing the blame why don't you focus on punishing the ones truly responsible, the ones who killed her?" Nix glares at Igneel with a scowl but steps back, head hanging in sorrow.

"Anyway it is time for us to protect our children's lives but this time I believe we should offer them a choice whether they wish to fight beside us or not." Ayan says. Pandemonium erupts instantly, apparently not every dragon either knew or told their slayer like Igneel had told me. Ayan struggles to regain control, the smallest of the gathered dragons unable to raise her voice high enough over the clamor. "Quiet!" I jump as her voice suddenly rings in my head, Wendy and Gajeel doing the same. Silence falls again. "You have until tomorrow to reach your decision slayers but be warned many lives will likely be lost, their dragon numbers easily put our own to shame." She stays for a moment more, exchanging a look with the girl at her side before spreading her wings and lifting off into the air. Many of the dragons raise to follow her, Igneel turning his head to face me.

"I will be back soon Natsu." He says, spreading his wings to take off again.

"Wait! You just came back can't we at least talk more first?!" I exclaim in annoyance. He shakes his head.

"For now Ayan as requested we let you all discuss it among yourselves and get to know each other without our influence. Besides we have dragon stuff to discuss." I frown, confused on where he got that information, but Igneel pretends not to notice, turning away and lifting into the air, Grandeeney and Metalicana at his tail.

"You better be back sooner this time bastard!" Gajeel shouts after them, Wendy just waving. Soon enough the clearing was devoid of dragons, only a handful of dragon slayers scattered around. I can't help but be surprised, I hadn't heard of any dragon slayers beside those An awkward silence hangs over the group.

"Sooooo... You three are the dragonslayers of the infamous Fairy Tail?" A dark haired boy asks looking towards us. We all turn to face him.

"What's it to you?" Gajeel snaps distrustfully. "And what do ya mean by infamous?" The boy lets out laugh, unperturbed.

"You're kidding right?" He questions. "It's a miracle if a few days go by without Fairy Tail causing a ruckus, usually destroying half a town!" The boy says with a grin.

"You wanna go?" I question in tune with Gajeel, snapping a glare at him afterwards.

"Natsu-san, Gajeel-san he does have a point..." Wendy squeaks anxiously.

"I ain't gonna let you bad mouth Fairy a Tail and Sabertooth. An awkward silence hangs over the group.

"Sooooo... You three are the dragonslayers of the infamous Fairy Tail?" A dark haired boy asks looking towards us. We all turn to face him.

"What's it to you?" Gajeel snaps distrustfully. "And what do ya mean by infamous?" The boy lets out laugh, unperturbed.

"You're kidding right?" He questions. "It's a miracle if a few days go by without Fairy Tail causing a ruckus, usually destroying half a town!" The boy says with a grin.

"You wanna go?" I question in tune with Gajeel, snapping a glare at him afterwards.

"Natsu-san, Gajeel-san he does have a point..." Wendy squeaks anxiously.

"I ain't gonna let you bad mouth Fairy Tail's name!" I shout, clenching my fist. The boy looks unfazed.

"Ohhhh a fight? Can I join to?" A blond girl asks, eyes shining with excitement.

"Me too me too!" Another girl shouts, waving her arms around to catch my attention. I find myself smirking.

"I'll show you all the power of a Fairy Tail wizard!" I shout, my fist igniting in flames. "I'm all fired up!" Gajeel cracks his fingers from beside me, laughing his signature laugh.

"Let's teach em' Salamander!" He shouts and we simultaneously leap forward, slamming our fists into the offender. Except he wasn't there anymore.

"You two seem a little slow." I spin around to find to boy standing behind us with a smirk. I charge again but for the second time my fist meets empty air.

"Stay still so I can hit you bastard!" I exclaim in rage.

"How exactly is that a good idea for me?" The voice comes from behind me again but this time I don't have time to turn, Gajeel slamming into me.

"Natsu-san, Gajeel-san are you alright!" Wendy calls worriedly, running over to us. I roughly push Gajeel off of me ignoring his string of curses.

"We're fine Wendy but that bastard won't be after I'm done with him!" I exclaim. Suddenly vines erupt at my feet entangling me and Gajeel, the other boy caught as well.

"What the hell? Who's doing this?" Gajeel shouts, struggling in his bonds. Feminine laughter greets his statement.

"That would be me silly! I told you guys I wanted to play!" One if the girls, the one with light brown hair, calls with a wave. "Forest Dragon Slayer Art: Nature's Embrace!" The vibes grow faster.

"Oh no way! I wanna play to!" The blond shouts with a frown, whirling on the girl. "Lightning Dragon Roar!" Brilliant electricity flies from her mouth, striking at the other girl. The brunette is forced to dodge, Wendy using the time to free us. I whirl to look for the dark haired boy but I only see the two girls now sparing and two others watching the entire thing. Gajeel is swept into the female's fight by a vine, Wendy running over to help while I still look for the boy.

"Looking for me?" I look up, finding him suddenly above me. How did he...? I don't have time to ponder it as I dive out of the way, rolling into a crouch.

"How are you doing that?" I exclaim, unable to help being impressed even just a little. The boy smirks cockily.

"That would be my magic, dragon slayer Rift Magic." He tells, a dark purple magic circle appearing from his palm. "Rift Dragon Slayer Art: Dimensional Rift!" Like a fabric the ground under him is tore open and he falls through, suddenly right in front of me. "It's pretty useful." He extends a hand to me and with a smile I take it. "Name's Castor Wolfe by the way, gotta admit it pretty great I finally got to meet you though the circumstances could be better."

"What do you mean great to meet me?" I ask on confusion. He laughs in response, casually ducking as Gajeel is sent flying towards is.

"Are you kidding? You're Natsu Dragneel, the Salamander of Fairy Tail! A dragonslayer!" I look at him in confusion.

"Uh aren't you a dragonslayer too?" I reply giving him a funny look. He shakes his head.

"Yes but that's not the point! I mean…."

"Hey are you two gonna fight or what?!" The blonde yells sending electricity towards us, we both jump out of the way. "Come on I want to see what ya got!" I exchange a look with Castor as Gajeel gets up and charges back in to help Wendy, smirking at the 'Rift' slayer.

"We can finish talking later!" I shout before charging back into the brawl, him following shortly after.

_**Far from my favorite chapter, it was being quite difficult... hence the reason it is a week late (sorry about that). I hope the OCs aren't going to drive anyone away... please leave me some feedback, I'm always looking to improve (especially with this OC addition, I've never added or liked OCs in stories really)**_

_**~Foxx**_


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